Word arrived this past week from The Film Detective that
they have unearthed an original 35mm print of auteur filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola’s 1963 gothic-like chiller, Dementia
13 and will be releasing it to the domestic market as a restored
Blu-ray edition on July 26.
As with many of producer Roger Corman’s films from this
period, Dementia 13 has a checkered history that includes additional
scenes shot by such legendary auteurs
as Jack Hill and Monte Hellman (the three — Hill, Hellman and Coppola — along with
Roger Corman himself, also teamed for The Terror, which was released
theatrically three months earlier).
Even the casting of the film has an interesting backstory. The Young Racers (directed by Corman
and released theatrically in January of 1963) had just finished shooting in
Ireland and so cast members William Campbell, Luana Anders and Patrick Magee
all stuck around to work on this “quickie.”
The rest of the cast was flushed out with local actors and, as legend
has it, friends of Coppola who fly to Ireland just for the chance to be in his
film.
This is just one of those films that — if you are either a
genre fan, student of the art or film buff — you have to have in your personal
library. The Film Detective is
presenting this Blu-ray edition in as aspect ratio of 1:85 and with an English
subtitle option … the SRP is just $14.99 (and that’s before discounts at
retail).
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